Cuban B.P.!!!

Kirk Quasebarth wrote me on http://www.checkswing.com/ with the following question:  "What drills do you have your hitters repetively do in order to acheive understanding and mastery of hitting the inside of the ball? Do you do anything different as you teach older players? (high school... college)?"

Do I have drills??? (LOL) Absolutely, Kirk.  Here are two you will really like.

1) When your hitters are doing tee work, have the ball always turned with the "horseshoe" facing the hitter.  In this manner, the hitter will focus on the inner half (or to simplify it, I like to say the part closest to him or her...), rather than the "back" or the "top".  For smarter/older kids, (and this relates to the part of your question referring to older players), have the hitter picture a "Dot" on the inside of the baseball.  (or if you would prefer, just draw a dot inside the horseshoe on your cage balls.  That way, the dot is there and the kids will have a visual aid to reinforce the technique you are teaching.

2) Cuban B.P.  (One of my all-time favorites!!!)  If you are performing front flip or regular B.P. with your hitters, take the L-Screen and turn it where you are located between first and second base for Rightys and between second and third for Leftys (a severe opposite field angle to the hitters).  This is the way the Cuban National Team regularly takes B.P. and it really works! This severe angle makes it very easy for your hitters to learn how to "stay inside the ball" because, due to the angle, they have no choice!!!  The inside of the ball becomes the only part of the baseball the hitter can make direct contact with (in other words, he or she can't "cast out" and "hook around" the baseball.) 

Also, Kirk.  Please remember to remind the hitter to hit the part of the ball closest to them, and as a result, you will see their hands follow a truer path to the ball, you will see the hitter accomplishing "fade" on the ball as it carries into the gaps and you will see your hitters create more line drives due to the fact they regularly hit the inside half...Side benefit, once you return B.P. to the mound area/middle of the field, you no longer have an angle on the hitter (which is BTW, as I'm sure you well know, one of the secrets to being an effective pitcher...Creating angle) and the ball will look HUGE to your hitters!  (This makes this drill extremely effective in Pre-Game B.P.)

Try it out with your club and please let me know if you have any other questions.  I'm always ready to help.